Issues Selling/shipping To Canada?

[evandailey]

I've had a customer contact me about a western belt rig who lives in Canada. Are there any issues I should be aware of before selling to him and agreeing to ship him the holster? He's agreed to pay whatever the shipping charges are. I have zero experience with international sales and shipping.

[Lobo]

The basic issues I have encountered in international sales (including Canada) have been:

1. Customs declarations. These must be accurate and truthful. Some customers will ask that the contents be indicated as a "gift", or a lesser value shown on the declaration (see duties, below).

2. Duties. Most countries assess import duties on products entering the country from another. Import duties vary depending upon the nation's laws, type of goods involved, and the value of a shipment.

3. Currency conversions and methods of payment. Every country uses different currencies, and the relative values change continually. Exchanging foreign currency for US currency can be a chore, and fees are to be expected. Banks regularly charge fees for collecting foreign checks, money orders, bank drafts, etc.

4. Value Added Taxes (VAT). Many countries assess VAT on every transaction. This is particularly true in the European Union nations. Generally, the VAT will be a flat percentage of the sale price of any item.

5. Delivery confirmations. Some means of delivery will provide delivery confirmations on parcels (FedEx, UPS, etc), but some will not. Items sent via mail to another country are delivered by that nation's postal service, which may or may not provide delivery confirmation.

So, I recommend a few things when dealing with international customers:

A. I insist on completing every customs declaration accurately, with the contents indicated as "merchandise", properly described, and the actual sale price listed.

B. International customers must understand and agree that import duties are the responsibility of the purchaser.

C. I use PayPal exclusively for international payments, providing (1) automatic currency conversion to US dollars, (2) secure website for credit card transactions with no sharing of account data, (3) instant funds availability in most cases. NOTE: PayPal has a standard requirement for delivery confirmation to provide coverage under their "seller protection" program, so choose delivery methods accordingly.

D. Customer must understand and agree that VAT is the responsibility of the purchaser.

E. Customer selects the method of delivery, decides on parcel insurance, and accepts responsibility for parcels lost or damaged in delivery.

Having said all of this, I have had remarkably few concerns or problems involved in international deliveries to 19 foreign countries to date. The majority of customers are fully aware of customs requirements, import duties, VAT issues, and delivery methods and times. All of my customers have been pleasant to deal with, and that is especially true of the Canadians I have had the pleasure of dealing with.

[bruce johnson]

I ship a fair amount of things internationally. Lobo hit most of the points to consider. Here's a couple more;

I have dealt using Paypal-only in every other country but Canada. I have two guys who don't use Paypal. They use Canadian Postal Money Orders denominated in US dollars. It has not been a problem for me. My post office cashes them immediately after verifying them (3-4 minute deal). My bank will honor them but puts a hold on the funds up to 21 days.

It won't apply in your case, but small Priority Mail flat rate boxes and flat rate envelopes will not be tracked once they leave the US. The same items in your own box will be tracked, but for a higher price than International Flat Rate. I have not had a problem with tracking the mail internationally, although Express Mail gives you more tracks along the way than Priority Mail. When you pursue it with the post office they get down to definitions - Express Mail is "tracked". Scans are done along the way as a usual routine. Priority Mail is sent "delivery confirmation". Scans may be done along the way, but they only are really saying that the final scan at delivery is all they are obligating themselves to. The humor of that is I have several packages in the US that have been tracked along the way and not scanned as delivered. They were delivered, just not scanned as delivered. I haven't seen that with internationals yet - they have all been scanned as delivered with either shippping option.

Take a really good look at International Express Mail rates vs. International Priority Mail rates. It is usually not much more in cost and about twice as fast in my experience. The tracking is better and some insurance is included. Additional insurance seems less expensive but I haven't put a pencil to that. The estimate delivery times are not 100% accurate on the USPS website. You can add about 2-3 days for Express and 7 days for Priority Mail and be closer.

Canada seems pretty slow on average to get things through their customs. The only country who has taken longer is England. Customers seem used to it.

[evandailey]

Thanks Lobo and Bruce.

[Spinner]

+1 to everything said so far. One thing to add to all of that is regarding shipping internationally. If a client needs something with rush shipping and faster customs clearing, USPS offers a service in conjunction with FedEx called "Global Express Guaranteed". The way it works is USPS handles the package within the US and then at the port of departure, FedEx picks up the package and handles customs & delivery abroad. It is usually only 1 day slower than going to FedEx or UPS directly (1-3 days average delivery time quoted) but averages half to two-thirds the cost.

The main benefit to using UPS or FedEx related services is you know who the end delivery company is. Many countries don't have an international postal service and instead use contracting companies to deliver inbound international packages. England has 5 different companies that I know of that pickup and deliver the international mail depending on the locale. These companies also charge a "delivery fee" on top of the VAT and any other fees charged by the governments.

I shipped a package to England that was fairly large sent via USPS Priority Mail with two $160 tank bibs in it. The box sat in customs for 16 days after taking 4 days to get across the ocean. After the 16 days, customs returned the package as unclaimed even though the mail contractor charged the client the $15 delivery fee and showed it as in process on their website and the client had called to confirm this. Another 7 days to get back to me and $35 wasted as USPS won't refund money on undelivered packages if they fulfill their end of the contract, which is simply to deliver to customs in the receiving country. I repackage the items into a fresh box and sent via the Global Express Guaranteed service for another $88 and it was received in good order by the client in 4 days with no additional 'delivery fee'. The same package was quoted by UPS and FedEx directly for the same time frame at around $125.

Just something to keep in mind for the rush shipments.

Chris

Edited December 13, 2011 by Spinner

[George B]

Hello, one other thing I did not see mentioned is the UPS Canada. They do sometimes charge an additional percentage on top of other charges that the customer has to pay before receipt of the merchandise. I have had some issues with upset customers about this charge. If your customer chooses this shipping option make sure they understand they are responsible for any additional charges from UPS.

I have used USPS, both express and priority with very few issues.

[McJeep]

Pretty much all of the shipping companies charge "brokerage fees" when they bring something north o the 49th.

If those fees were fair, they wouldn't be a problem but having once paid $34 in brokerage fees for a "free" ball hat that a jeep dealer sent me, I refuse to deal with them at all.

For any Canadian clients you may have - ask them if they have an airport nearby. All of the airports have brokerage businesses that have warehouse south of the border to use as delivery points for purchases - then the company brings the package across. At that point the person receiving the package takes invoicing etc (the brokerage gives it to them) over to customs and does their own brokering (pay taxes/duties etc) and can go pick their package up from the shipper on completion. It saves all of those huge fees that ups etc charge just to do 2 minutes of paperwork stamping.

Also, most things "made in america" are totally duty free so the only thing a northern customer should end up paying is applicable taxes.

Hope this helps

Rob

[Denise]

As a Canadian, I can say PLEASE ship via the post office in some manner. George is right in saying all the courier companies DO charge extra - often $25 to $30 extra - as a "brokerage fee" on this end. No such fees through the post office. If people are not aware of this it is a very nasty surprise when they receive their item.

[Spinner]

As a Canadian, I can say PLEASE ship via the post office in some manner. George is right in saying all the courier companies DO charge extra - often $25 to $30 extra - as a "brokerage fee" on this end. No such fees through the post office. If people are not aware of this it is a very nasty surprise when they receive their item.

Thanks Denise, good to know. Funny how the process is the exact opposite on packages going to England. I'm going to have to make a chart for all of these shipping notes! Too bad that's the case though, UPS shipping to Canada right now is only 1 day slower but 10-20% cheaper ($26 vs. $35) than the post office and I have to pay the post office up front whereas I have a UPS net+30 account.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Spinner

[dirtclod]

Every time i have sent something to Canada the person ordering told me to make sure i sent it through the post office because of the HIGH fees that UPS charges when the package crosses the border. One customer's cost doubled when UPS got done with their charges. It was sent by another company.